The flat black eyes of the Sea King watched Guan Zhenyan’s back as he walked away until the man reached the dry land and walked down the ramp towards the lower level. Then he finally unclenched his fist and looked down at his palm where a purplish discoloration was slowly expanding.

“The rumors still underestimate that man.”

After speaking with an annoyed tone, the Sea King left in the other direction, quickly eating a pill and heading back towards the Chain Ocean Palace to treat the poison spreading upon his hand. Any further thoughts of capturing Guan Zhenyan were tossed aside as he confirmed that the man was not as weak as the rumors said. There must be some other reason that he went into hiding, which meant something else important must be happening. He brought out a Messaging Jade and informed his people of Guan Zhenyan’s position to set some tails upon him. Even if they couldn’t figure out what he was up to, the man had been in hiding for many years and they could at the very least sell information on him.

A few levels lower in the capital, Guan Zhenyan walked into a seedy bar and passed through a set of curtains at the back. The staff didn’t stop him, but they did prevent others from following behind him. He stepped into a Transportation Formation and arrived in a location many thousands of levels lower. After placing some Spirit Stones into a bowl, a huge crystal ball hanging from the ceiling lit up like a tiny sun. The light bathed him for a few seconds and after it receded his face and aura were completely different than before. He waved a hand and his outfit was swapped out, changing instantly into a tight fitting set of breeches with a billowing shirt and elaborately embroidered vest. He leaned down to shine his brown leather shoes a bit before stepping through another curtain and entering a shop filled with flowers.

Vases of every size were placed upon every visible bit of space, which was a lot considering the place was littered with pedestals of varying heights. Each vase had its own unique flower arrangement, which tied in to those nearby it as well as the room they were in, each of them carrying their own overarching theme. He passed through a romantically red lit room, and then a cheerful yellow hallway before tossing a Storage Bag to a shop clerk and walking out of the shop. He didn’t let the annoyance show on his face, as he hadn’t had to change his look or hide his appearance in many years and it was quite annoying to have to use the services of a protection agency like that. He ditched all his pursuers, but there would still be a trail of where he went to and while they wouldn’t know where he ended up or what he looked like, the news of him reappearing and changing his look would spread.

“Stop being so down. That man didn’t see through your ruse the second time. He just recognized that you were ‘my agent’ from your battle.”

Guan Zhenyan was sending his voice into the wooden ring upon his finger. Within the characters that read ‘Long Life’ was a Storage Treasure designed to contain souls and inside this Soul Locker was Sage’s Nascent Soul. He was quite weak and anxious from the whole ordeal. Sage had schooled his control of his physical body to display only the emotions he wished to show, something he learned out of fear of offending the wrong person or leaking information to a hostile party. His soul form on the other hand was not as well controlled and Guan Zhenyan finally got some insight to his thoughts.

“So, you don’t think he knows that I survived, or who I am?”

“He doesn’t, but if he really wants to know he could probably use the stuff you left in the Universe Ring to figure it out.”

The relief Sage was feeling suddenly fizzled out with those words as he grew even more anxious than before, “We have to make it back to my Clan faster than he does! Hurry, I don’t care about the cost!”

“Calm down, he has no reason to look into it much. Did you leave anything particularly interesting in there? Haven’t you already transferred everything to your World Core? He was only interested in using you to find me, and now that you’re ‘dead’ you shouldn’t matter to him at all.”

On the Inner World, there was a frantic scramble to scour the inventory listing of what was left in the Universe Ring. Other than the Dragoons and Hoplites, there were the crops and beasts that were being raised as emergency food supplies. In the underground storage there were small stores of many useful materials both common and uncommon, along with a hidden vault full of Memory Spheres. In case of Sage’s death they kept a full record of all the knowledge and techniques that he had acquired throughout his life. There was another even more intense scramble when the list of what was contained on the Memory Spheres was brought up on the view screens and a few dozen people quickly scrolled through it.

Soon the reports were compiled and sent directly to Sage’s Adjutor who was sitting upon a raised seat with his hands placed upon two large spheres. Sage knew as soon as the Adjutor and he nodded. The Memory Spheres in the Universe Ring did not record comprehensive knowledge from the Inner World, only those he’d gained on the outside world. Instead, there was only a single Memory Sphere detailing things from the Inner World and they were mostly cultural. There were a few dozen techniques developed on the Inner World for the Lang Clan, but they were part of a Memory Sphere intended to pass down that heritage so the connection was obscured. The rest of the knowledge related to the Inner World was mainly cultural. Sage had worried about spreading technological advancements to the outside world and getting too much attention. Thankfully, this meant that instead of technology the Memory Sphere was filled with films, novels, and art that was created on the Inner World.

As long as the Sea King isn’t a huge fan of cultural works, we should be fine.

Given the man’s position as the leader of a large organization and the strange way he looked, Sage could only hope that the Memory Sphere would be overlooked. At the very least, there weren't any direct connections between the works on it and the Lang Clan. Only the single Memory Sphere was filled with techniques just for the Lang Clan. The Dragoons and Hoplites were the only other direct connection with his clan, albeit quite an obvious one. Or at least it would be to anyone familiar with their race. On the other hand, they could just be seen as just another demi-human race and the fact they were from such a very specific place could be overlooked.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much Sage could do about it. He was barely better than dead at the moment and if the Sea King ever went to the Lang Clan in person he could not stop him. If the Sea King only sent his people to do the dirty work, then Sage could count upon the Purple Mist Sect that had been left behind to protect them. The dozens of Nascent Souls were likely enough to stand up against half of the Dou Kingdom at the same time, which should be enough to resist whatever groups the Sea King sends out.

All this contemplation and calculation took days to fully work out on the Inner World, but on the outside, Sage’s answer to Guan Zhenyan was nearly instantaneous and his mood seemed completely restored.

“You’re right. We need to worry about ourselves. I will complete your job, but we need time to recover and build up our strength. Do you know of any other safe houses we can use? Preferably far away from the Tianxia Capital.”